October 23, 2020 UPDATE

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Newsroom, 23.10.2020, 20:00

COVID-19 A new record-high number of new SARS-CoV-2
cases in 24 hours in Romania, 5,028 out of 35,351 tests, was reported on
Friday. So far, 201,032 people have tested positive for the virus, and 144,429
of them have recovered. The Strategic Communication Group also announced that
another 82 people died, taking the death toll to 6,245. A total of 10,427
COVID-19 patients are currently hospitalised, 782 of them in intensive care-the
largest number so far. Of the Romanians living abroad, 6,851 have so far
tested positive, and the number of deaths remains 126, the authorities also
announced.

PANDEMIC Global coronavirus cases are nearing 42 million, while the number
of fatalities has passed 1.14 million, according to Worldometers.info. Europe
is seeing a large number of infections in the second wave. Spain has passed 1
million cases. Ireland has seen over 2,000 daily cases and its government has
imposed strict measures. The UK has also reported its highest number of daily
cases, 27,000. Germany has also seen a record number of new 11,000 infections.
Poland’s PM announced on Friday that the entire country would be classified as
COVID red zone, with restaurants and primary schools partly closed down. The
Warsaw National Stadium will be converted into a temporary field hospital and
similar facilities will be arranged elsewhere in the country, after over 13,600
new cases were reported in the last 24 hours. On Friday Slovakia initiated a
3-week mass testing programme. Belgium and Czech Republic have the highest
number of infections per number of inhabitants. Beginning on Saturday, Greece
will impose travel restrictions in Athens, Thessaloniki and other badly hit areas.
France has extended its night curfew imposed in the main cities to most of the
country, beginning on Saturday.

MOBILITY On Friday the government of Romania challenged several provisions
in the EU Mobility Package I at the Court of Justice of the EU. Bucharest views
these provisions as having a negative impact on the domestic market and
affecting competitiveness of commodity transport in the Union. The move concerns,
among other things, the ban drivers on taking their compulsory weekly rest
hours on board of vehicles, the obligation for drivers to return to the
employer’s office or to their place of residence on a regular basis, and the
obligation to return vehicles to a company office within 8 weeks from
departure. The claim submitted to the Court of Justice of the EU follows
repeated efforts by the Romanian authorities against the restrictive and
disproportionate nature of these provisions in the Mobility Package I, the
Romanian Foreign Ministry said. Romania voted against the 3 regulations,
alongside 8 other EU member states (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia,
Lithuania, Malta and Poland).

VISIT Romania’s PM Ludovic Orban will be on an official visit to
France on Monday and Tuesday. According to the Romanian Government, Ludovic
Orban will have meetings with his French counterpart Jean Castex, with the
speakers of the National Assembly, Richard Ferrand, and the Senate, Gerard
Larcher, and with the leader of the centre-right party ‘Les Republicains’,
Christian Jacob. The Romanian PM will also take part in a meeting of the
Council of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. The visit
also includes a meeting with members of the Romanian community in France.

CORRUPTION The Liberal George Scripcaru, the outgoing
mayor of Braşov in central Romania, has been charged with blackmail and is
under judicial supervision. According to the National Anti-Corruption
Directorate, while running for a new seat he threatened to cause problems to an
advertising company unless it posted his election ads on public transport buses
in the city. On September 27, Scripcaru lost the election to Allen Coliban
(Save Romania Union). Meanwhile, 2 former mayors of the Black Sea port city of Constanţa,
Decebal Făgădău and Radu Mazăre, both from the Social Democratic Party, have
been indicted in a new corruption case. They are accused of having unlawfully authorised
the construction of a luxury building on a beach.

NATO The Romanian defence minister Nicolae Ciucă
took part on Friday in a conference call of NATO defence ministers. The online
meeting focused on ongoing Allied missions and operations, with a focus on
those in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nicolae Ciucă reiterated Romania’s commitment to
NATO missions, in a flexibly planned contribution that enables its
reconfiguring in line to future Allied decisions and the dynamic of specific
operational needs.

FOOTBALL The Romanian football champions CFR Cluj on Thursday night defeated the
Bulgarian side CSKA Sofia 2-nil in their opening Europa League Group A match.
In the same group, the Italian side AS Rome defeated the Swiss side BSC Young
Boys 2-1. Next week, AS Rome will be playing CSKA Sofia and CFR will be playing
BSC Young Boys. Eliminated from the Champions League in the preliminary
matches, CFR are the only Romanian side in the European competitions this year.
(translated by: A.M. Popescu)